Despite his contraction of polio, he went on to excel in gymnastics and was nominated for the Nissin Award in gymnastics, presented with the Jake Gimble Award for Scholastic and Athletic Achievement, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Scholarship in the Neurosciences.
He currently lives in San Diego, California with his wife, also an autism researcher, Karen Pierce, PhD, and their family.
Scientifically, Courchesne’s contribution has led to over 180 publications on the topic of autism and has been included in national and international news coverage.
His research is supported by multiple organizations including the National Institute of Health, Autism Speaks, and the Simons Foundation.
This finding, published in JAMA, not only helped to explain why most of all autistic 2- to 16-year-old postmortem male brains exceed normal average, but that prenatal mechanisms regulating the number of neurons may be implicated in the etiology of autism.